Buttonhole cutter



Nov. 28, 1950 N. M. GlLLlAM 2,532,160

BUTTONHOLE CUTTER Filed March 5, 1948 48 32 Fig.5.

Nora M. Gilliam INVENTOR.

A norm Patented Nov. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUTTONHOLE CUTTER Nora M. Gilliam, La Porte, Tex.

Application March 5, 1948, Serial No. 13,169

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in cutters for buttonholes, and the principal object of the invention is to facilitate the formation of buttonholes in shirts, or the like, with precision and accuracy and in a simple and an expedient manner.

This object is achieved by the provision of a cutter including .a baseformed with a pocket to receive a cutting blade mounted upon a depressible arm which, in turn, is suitably attached to the base, matters being so arranged that by simply inserting an article of fabric between the base and the arm and thereafter depressing the arm, the cutting blade willpass through the fabric into the pocket, resulting in a neat and an exact cut or slit, constituting the buttonhole.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a buttonhole cutter which may be used in association with cutting blades of different sizes, thus facilitating the formation of differently sized buttonholes.

Another feature of the invention lies in the provision of a buttonhole cutter which is simple in construction, which, as aforesaid, may be easily and conveniently manipulated, and which will readily lend itself to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects and features in view, and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the inven tion;

Figure 2 is a side elevational View thereof in an open position;

Figure 3 is a side elevational View, similar to that shown in Figure 2 but partially broken away and illustrating the invention in a depressed position, this view being taken substantially in the plane of the line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end view of the invention, taken in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 3; and,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a cutter blade used in the invention.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, invention consists of a buttonhole cutter designated generally by the reference 2 character Hi, the same embodying in'its construction an elongated base 52 provided at one end thereof with a pair of spaced, upstanding ears M.

A depressible arm [5 is provided at one end thereof with an enlarged boss I8, and a pivot assuming the form of the screw 20 extends through the aforementioned ears [4 and through the boss I8, as will be clearly apparent.

It is to be noted that the boss [8 is disposed between the ears M and the pin or screw 20 is provided with a wing nut 22, substantially as shown.

The arm Iii is provided on the upper surface thereof with a suitable handle 24, while the undersurface of the arm is equipped with a web 26 carrying a clamping screw 23 disposed between a pair of keeper pins 33. A cutting blade 32, configurated as is best shown in Figure 5, is attachable to the web 26 by means of the screw 28 which is receivable in an aperture 34 with which the blade is formed, the blade also being provided with arcuate notches 36 to accommodate the keeper pins as, whereby pivotal movement of the blade on the web 26 is prevented.

For additional reinforcement, a strap 33 may be pivoted as at 48 to a lug t2 formed on the underside of the arm I6, an end portion of the strap 38 overlapping the blade 32 when the latter is in position on the web 26 and, needless to say, the pivot 40 being sufficiently loose so as to facilitate lateral spreading of the strap with respect to the web 26, whereby the blade 322 may be easily applied or removed.

The base i2 is formed with an opening 44 which provides what may be referred to as cutting edges, and in which the blade 32 is receivable upon depression of the arm 56. Moreover, the base [2 may be equipped on the underside thereof with what may be referred to as a pocket 46, the latter being in register with the opening 44 and being intended to receive the blade 32, substantially as shown. It will be understood from the foregoing that by simply inserting a piece of fabric between the arm 56 and the base I2 and thereafter depressing the arm, the blade 32 will be caused to penetrate the fabric, resulting in the formation of a buttonhole in the fabric material. As is shown in Figure 1, the blade 32 is equipped with a pair of cutting edges 48, which, coacting with the cutting edges of the opening 44, will result in exceptional accuracy and precision of the work.

By employing cutting blades 32 of various sizes on the arm H5 in an interchangeable manner, so to speak, the formation of buttonholes of various sizes will, of course, be facilitated.

Finally, it may be added that a suitable spring 553 may be interposed between the arm l6 and the base i2 for the purpose of normally disengaging the blade 32 from the pocket 46, that is, after the butto-nhole has been out, so that the cutter is in readiness for the next buttonhole cutting operation.

If desired, the base 12 may also be provided with a plurality of apertures 52 to accommodate suitable screws whereby the entire cutter may be firmly secured to suitable supporting structure, such as for example, a work-bench (not shown). When the invention is so mounted, the work-bench should, of course, be provided with a suitable recess or opening to accommodate the downwardl projecting pocket 46, as will be clearly appreciated.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing disclosure and, accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted I to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a buttonhole cutter, the combination of a stationary base plate adapted to be secured to a support and formed intermediate the ends thereof with a slot, a V-shaped imperforate pocket provided on the underside of said plate in register with said slot, a pair of transversely spaced and upstanding cars at one end of the base plate, a depressible arm having one end portion thereof disposed between and pivoted to said ears, a web provided on the underside of said arm intermediate the ends of the latter, a pair of keeper pins projecting laterally from said web, a cutting blade removably positioned at one side of said web and formed with notches to receive said pins, a clamping screw provided on said web between said pins and extending through said blade to retain the same in position, said blade extending downwardly from said web and being receivable REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 137,745 Whitney Apr. 8, 1873 168,794 Sidle Oct. 11, 1875 260,035 Lytle June 27, 1882 1,085,793 Boettger Feb. 3, 1914 1,421,380 Baum July 4, 1922 

